Shazz December 13, 2011 Share Shazz Member December 13, 2011 (edited) Right now I own two Suv's. Gas guzzling..yes. Big deal over gas, ehh? The wife love's her Suv and I like mine but I want a change. We have two kids that are car seat free and not at driving age so the freedom to drive a four seat car without worrying about comfort is all good. We have the wife's Suv for the soccer games and what not. My want is a All Wheel Drive. I went and test drove a (racing blue) Wrx Sti hatchback today and did I ever feel giddy! The back-pressure sound of the turbo mixed with a 6 speed is pure awesome. Add the resale value of a Wrx Subaru and it feels like a no brainer. However the dealer shared the pro's and con's and a couple of the main con's were the need for 93 octane fuel (isn't that big of a deal seeing it is a 305hp engine) and how fast it goes through tires. He said they needed to be changed every 20k miles. That true??? Plus the set that are on it are terrible for PA winters. Also wondering if the sound of the loud turbo will wear on me after 6 months. Pro's...the car is a beast. So I went shopping for comparisons on a 38k range of price and ran across the Audi A4 loaded or A6 (not as equipped). The Audi's resale is at par or better than Subaru from what I read. Subaru Ranked 4th in resale with Audi A5 next. . Just don't know much about the Audi. Help me out! Ideas! What All Wheel Drive cars do you guys own or recommend? And any knowledge on the ones I mentioned would be nice. Edited December 13, 2011 by Shazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leveller December 14, 2011 Share Leveller Member December 14, 2011 It sounds like you're looking at pretty much new. If I had the requirements you have above, I'd actually be inclined to look at a 2-3 year old CPO BMW 328xi (wagon or sedan). It's far from being slow c. 6 second 0-60, the straight six sounds great and you could probably pick one up that was nicely equipped between 28 and 35K, up to your 38K budget even a 335xi (a very capable all year car). With the new shape 3 series coming out in the new year, you'd probably also be able to get a great deal on a new one. Full disclosure, I have a 335 coupe and my wife drives an older 525 wagon so we're a BMW family and both love our cars, but honestly with the CPO program and the ability to extend the 0 cost maintenance program etc. it's not a bad option. I also know some people would rather walk than be seen driving a BMW......... I'm a sucker for the WRX STI if the truth be told and it would be a hell of a good choice, but having had "hot hatches" in the past I know that at least for me the fun factor wears thin when I have do more miles than my daily commute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless December 14, 2011 Share Clueless GC Alumni December 14, 2011 If you like your SUV but you also want smaller and sporty with AWD...you could look at the VW Tiguan which is a 2.0 Turbo available with 4motion. If you want something more along the lines of a sport sedan (you mentioned Audi), you should have a look at the VW CC...4motion is only available with the VR6, but it's a real arse kicker too...beautiful car, great lines...one of my favorites. As you probably know, VW/Audi has been doing AWD for a long time and is at the top of the heap as far as that goes. I had a B5 generation Audi A4 Quattro...thing was so good in the snow it was bad...cuz you could get cocky pretty quickly, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 14, 2011 Author Share Shazz Member December 14, 2011 Wow! The BMW 328 and the Tiguan received high marks through KBB. Both close to 5/5. Guess I am making a trip to Sun motors in Mechanicsburg PA. One stop shopping for.those two cars. Still wondering though...do the tires really only last 20k on the wrx sti? Surely there are low pro tires that last longer. I did mean to mention that I would like a new car or a certified used one. Warranty does give me a piece of mind. Right now I am a sponge, point me in the right direction and I will go drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leveller December 14, 2011 Share Leveller Member December 14, 2011 Still wondering though...do the tires really only last 20k on the wrx sti? Surely there are low pro tires that last longer. I think the OE tires are summer Dunlops with something like a 200 wear rating, you could put a set of Michelin all seasons on there with a 350-400 wear rating, spend 2/3's as much, notice little difference in traction and get more miles out of them. I'm was lucky to get 12K out of the OE high performance summers on the rear of mine, switched out to Michelin all seasons. I've noticed a drop in traction at the absolute limit in the summer, but it makes the car better to drive this time of year and costs about $500 less when I have to change tires which I'm guessing will be after about 20-25K based on how they're wearing (they are apparently warranted to 45K miles or something so I may get a rebate when they need changing, not sure how that works).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless December 14, 2011 Share Clueless GC Alumni December 14, 2011 Vw's also carry a 5 star crash rating from the IIHS, if safety is ur thang. As far as the tires go, yes and no....it all depends on the tire, the performance rating of the tire, and your driving style. OE tires, although bearing the same branding and appearance as the retail tires, are not created equal. They are made to appear as the retail tire but made to the OEM's specs...usually in a cost cutting effort. You can see this when you go somewhere like Tirerack and look at 2 seeming identical tires, but 1 will have (OE) after it, and usually costs a few bucks less. This, coupled with a higher performance rating can wreak havok on tire life....throw in a few doses of spirited driving, and you have yourself a recipe for an early trip to the tire store. I would ASSUME that the WRX has a V rated tire, very high performance, soft compound, which will wear faster. You could lower that to an H rated tire and gain more tread life, but you MAY notice a decrease in handling IF you drive the car hard alot, otherwise, you should be fine....keep in mind, the manufacturer will NEVER recommend that you do this because they designed the chassis and handling characteristics as a complete package, including the tires, and they don't like you messin with their infinite wisdom. Happy test driving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher December 16, 2011 Share Preacher Member December 16, 2011 I used to manage a Firestone auto care and from what I understand about high performance cars vs tires is that the "softer" the tire the better the traction (therefore less slippage or spinning of the tires) but this also means that they wear faster. The "harder" the tire the longer the wear. In the case of high performance cars, if you don't drive them very nicely you will get slippage (not talking about spinning out like a teen with daddy's car, just slight, short slips) and this will cause uneven wear around the tires and therefore you will end up replacing these at around the same time frame as the softer without the performance. That turbo noise does get old IMO. Audi and Subaru have the best traction control for awd. Pretty much every car you are looking at have good resale, high customer satisfaction and good performance. BMW gives you a little more of a status boost, while Audi gives you the ability to out race teens in their Camaro lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 17, 2011 Author Share Shazz Member December 17, 2011 I bought this one. Brand new with a crisp feel and loaded with all the goodies. 2012 Navi system in it which is very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher December 17, 2011 Share Preacher Member December 17, 2011 very cool car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless December 17, 2011 Share Clueless GC Alumni December 17, 2011 Very nice,enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lousiest December 17, 2011 Share lousiest Member December 17, 2011 Love the front look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling December 18, 2011 Share samurai nightling Member December 18, 2011 (edited) Excellent choice!! Plus I love that the new models have the STI back in a sedan model and not just hatchback. I currently own a 2010 WRX (not STI) sedan but still a turbocharged beast. I LOVE IT! It uses the exact same engine and turbo of the STI but due to a different intercooler and other mods only puts out 265HP. Here's a pic, though now i have the windows tinted 80% all around. It is true that the stock tires will only last you 20K, especially if you push the car a bit. I still have the stock tires on mine (Dunlop SP sport) summer performace, and I'm at around 26K miles. Needless to say my friend had these exact tires on his Mercury last winter and nearly totaled his car in the snow, also had AWD. I am looking at replacing them with some Continental Extremecontact DWS tires this month before snow hits. If you look them up, they rank highest of the High performance all season tires when it comes to pretty much every aspect. Go to tirerack.com and just look at the reviews, surveys, and customer satisfaction. Back to the car though, it's an awesome choice! Last i checked Cujo owns a STI also, and I know he loves it. I definitely look forward to trying out the AWD this winter after my new tires are on. Just remember, dont push it too hard for the first thousand miles or so, break it in a little before you let it rip Edited December 18, 2011 by samurai nightling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lousiest December 18, 2011 Share lousiest Member December 18, 2011 Man... you guys' cars remind me of initial D *slobbers* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage December 18, 2011 Share ZeroDamage Member December 18, 2011 Nice but I am the frame of mind these days to never have a car payment again. I am strictly used clunker at no more than 3-4k that I can pay off in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher December 19, 2011 Share Preacher Member December 19, 2011 Same here ZD For $38k I would buy 4 really nice classic cars Like these: http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2692653023.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2748526781.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2692728745.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2677584820.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2752696235.html http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2757865067.html Actually for that money you could buy all of those and have a collection that was increasing in value every year rather than decreasing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 19, 2011 Author Share Shazz Member December 19, 2011 It's all preference. I am happy with my purchase. Thanks for the tip on the tires samurai! Gonna look for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler December 19, 2011 Share boiler Member December 19, 2011 I'm glad they went back to the sedan look, I really don't like hatchbacks, and the STi is a BEAST. Congrats on the purchase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling December 19, 2011 Share samurai nightling Member December 19, 2011 Shazz I have an appointment tomorrow to get 4 of those Continental Extremecontact DWS installed. I can let you know what I think of them after a while if you like. I plan on testing them out in the snow for sure, whenever we finally get snow that is, prolly in January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 19, 2011 Author Share Shazz Member December 19, 2011 Please do! For around 150 bucks a tire it seems like steal. Plus the 50k mileage and I will be very happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling December 19, 2011 Share samurai nightling Member December 19, 2011 (edited) Yeah except I'm getting mine at a a tire shop here. They're $200 with installation each, but with that this place give a free alignment with purchase of 4 tires, and lifetime balances/rotations/valve stems/nitrogen inflation every 5000 miles. I figure I'll pay more there than i would at tirerack, but I get all of the bonuses that they give, so its worth it to me. Do you have Tire Discounters there? That's the place I'm going. Edited December 19, 2011 by samurai nightling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 19, 2011 Author Share Shazz Member December 19, 2011 No Tire discounter here. I have a http://www.morethantires.com/ a couple miles away. Thought about going to them or even trying a Sams club. My local dealership said that I could buy the tires from tirerack.com and have them directly shipped to them for no fee. Still would charge to install them though. Let me know how you like those tires. The set that came on the car look dangerous for winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling December 21, 2011 Share samurai nightling Member December 21, 2011 First impression of new tires= good. There is definitely a reduction in road noise with them at brand new which i love. They seem to handle well in wet, since we had some rain today i could drive on. But, then again this is my first day with them, I'll let you know what I think once I get a few thousand miles on em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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